Friday, March 6, 2009

As Salaamu ‘alaykum and peace to all,23rd Ramadan 1429- Day 23- Give and Ye Shall Receive – A Motivational Story to Promote Acts of Charity and Donation

That day I was walking around my neighborhood, doing my usual morning walk. I absolutely love the freshness of morning air, the silence of the surroundings that allowed me to enjoy the sounds of those little insects and the serenity that wee hours in the morning offers, subhanAllaah…

And of course, not forgetting to mention, the ever-ready feel good hormones- The Amazing Endorphins- that are pumped into my system do wonders for me too!

Then I saw a few birds on a fruit tree of one of my neighbors.

‘SubhanAllaah, what a blessed family. They are sleeping and don’t even realize that they are doing charity!’ I whispered to myself, smiling away.

‘Hmmm… maybe I should plant some fruit trees in my garden too!’ a brilliant idea just popped into my head.

See? Told ya morning walks do wonders for me, alhamdulillaah!

That particular thought made me think that day.

I have written one whole story based of the act of charity in my second book- Life is an Open Secret- You, Me and We. And I have learned that doing charity is really one of the keys to wealth! SubhanAllaah…

Amazing, isn’t it? How when we give away, we actually would get more and more?

Yeah, about 70,000 times more!

This is the marvel of the Greatness of our Lord, Allah, the Al Mighty.Allahu Akbar!

No wonder our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) once said,Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There is no person who does not have the obligation of (doing) charity every day that the sun rises.”Whereupon he was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, from where would we get something to give in charity (so often)?” To which he (peace and blessings be upon him) replied,“Indeed the gates to goodness are many: glorifying God, praising Him, magnifying Him, saying ‘There is no god but Allah,’ enjoining the good and forbidding the wrong, removing (any source of) harm from the road, making the deaf hear (and understand), guiding the blind, showing the seeker his need, striving as far as your two legs could carry you and with deep concern to give succor to him who asks, carrying with the strength of your arms (the burdens of) the weak. All these are (acts of) charity.” And he added, “And your smiling in the face of your brother is charity, your removing of stones, thorns, and bones from people’s paths is charity, and your guiding a man gone astray in the world is charity for you.”

SubhanAllaah!

Just look at how important the act of charity is for us in our lives.

He said,

“There is no person who does not have the obligation of (doing) charity every day that the sun rises.”Yes, my brothers and sisters! He (pbuh) said- no one- meaning you and me are all obligated to do charity every single day!

And I am truly taken aback with the word obligated too. Doesn’t this word mean compelled, required, duty-bound and mandatory?

So, truly, the act of charity is something that is required for us to do every single day, right?Huh, every single day?

Yup, you got it! Every single day!

I guess that was why Abu Darr asked Prophet again, and I am paraphrasing here- how can we do charity every single day, you agree?

We are no Bill Gates of the United States of America, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari of Malaysia or Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia!

So, how on can we do charity every single day?

Didn’t we say Islam is a Deen that is complete for everyone?

So, Prophet (pbuh) gave us peace of mind before we get anxiety attack!

And he (pbuh) said, even a smile is a charity, being helpful to someone is charity, assisting the weak is charity, striving hard is charity, enjoining goodness is charity, giving good advice is charity and so many more, mashaAllaah!

SubhanAllaah, so truly, there is no reason that we can cooked up during the Day of Judgment to give to Allaah of why we cannot do charity, agree?

Samuel Johnson once said,He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything.Absolutely! We have to start somewhere no matter how small it is.

And hey, start with a smile today, coz it IS an act of charity as endorsed by our beloved Prophet (pbuh)!

Then, I recalled reading this one hadith on the kind of charity our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) gave during Ramadan,“The Prophet was the most generous amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadan when Jibreel visited him, and Jibreel used to meet him on every night of Ramadan till the end of the month. The Prophet used to recite the Holy Qur'an to Jibreel, and when Jibreel met him, he used to be more generous than a fast wind (which causes rain and welfare).” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)

Wow, more generous that the fast wind?

SubhanAllaah…

Being a person who in totally in love with wind, breeze, gust, puff of air and gentle wind, I truly could visualize (literally) how charitable Prophet was!

I asked myself- don’t I want to take advantage of the Blessed month I am in right now? Don’t I want to be more generous than a fast wind just like my Prophet (pbuh)? Don’t I want to be rewarded 70,000 times more than what I gave away? Don’t I want to be rewarded the like of a baby horse that turned into a mountain? Can’t I even smile, say good words, forbid wrongdoings, assist the weak, help the needed, support a good cause, remove a stone to earn this great reward?

And more importantly- don’t I want to fulfill my obligation to do charity every single day as what my Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had asked me to do?

I totally love what Victor Hugo once said,As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled. SubhanAllaah…

And after reading that much about charity, I know that it is not only that with charity our hearts will be filled, but, our own pockets would be too!

Waktu Solat

Who are you?

"I am a traveler seeking the truth, a human searching for the meaning of humanity and a citizen seeking dignity, freedom, stability and welfare under the shade of Islam. I am a free man who is aware of the purpose of his existence and who proclaims: “Truly, my prayer and my sacrifice, my living and my dying are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds; no partner has He. This, am I commanded and I am of those who submit to His Will.” This is who I am. Who are you?"